Autodrome is set in a city like something out of Metropolis. Photograph: Allstar

Brought up on the rough side of town, Zar Punkstar's one chance to shine is racing jacked-up retro automobiles through the streets of Autodrome. Securing a place in the legendary Ramrod Rally should have been his ultimate dream, but the murder of his mysterious father and his junky mother's overdose, not to mention the mysterious team manager, the thugs on his tail and his fighting team-mates, put him at the centre of an off-beat mystery adventure like no other. The backdrop is a strangely steampunk future, a city like something out of Metropolis but full of steam technology and clockwork gadgets revolving around the motor industry and a population whose only relief is an obsession with cars and rallying. What lifts this oddball setting out of the ordinary is Lakin-Smith's deft prose, from the loving depiction of the city and its inhabitants to powerfully emotional set-piece scenes. In lots of ways Autodrome is a conventional quest story for grease monkeys, but the characterisation and careful realisation of the city make this far more than a steampunk adventure romp for Top Gear fans.